


A Dragon Falls...

by Lady_of_Silver_Servant_of_dragons



Category: Sengoku Basara
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:27:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29034657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_of_Silver_Servant_of_dragons/pseuds/Lady_of_Silver_Servant_of_dragons
Summary: Masamune laments the loss of a loved one close to the anniversary of their passing and comes to terms with an unavoidable truth....
Kudos: 1





	A Dragon Falls...

Numbness….  
  
That was all Masamune could feel and the sound of silence was all he could hear, it had been like this for nearly a year now and he couldn’t shake it not that anyone could blame him or expect a different reaction from him….losing a loved one is never easy but this time it was different, usually by now he would’ve lost it in anger and have broken-down away from prying eyes, it was how he coped, how he dealt with his hurt but this time it was like he had no strength to fight his despair.  
  
He stared out at the falling rain from his room, it had been raining softly like this for a few days, he hated the cold but he hated the rain even more as old memories came back to the forefront of his mind, however, they weren’t all bad but they all caused him pain.  
  
“Father?”

He felt his heart skip a beat, was it her? Had she come to take him away? He looked over his shoulder and for a moment felt relief until he realized it was only Nyoko and the numbness returned but it wasn’t as strong.

“Of course he sent for you…”

He said turning his head back to the window

“Yes, he did, they both did...everyone is worried about you, you won’t see a healer for your illness, you keep to solitude, you barely eat a thing or sleep...”

He knew he had been hurting his children with his behavior but he couldn’t let them watch him slowly fade away, he loved them too much.

“How long has it been?”

Nyoko wasn’t sure what he was referring to so she said nothing and stayed silent.  
  
“How long has it been since I’ve soared? How long has it been since I’ve touched my claws?... I can do nothing but brood and stew in my despair ever since…”

He couldn’t force himself to say the words, it felt like shards of metal or splinters of wood were in his lungs now at the thought of saying those damnable words, he started to cough, it was common-place now but this was a bad fit, once it faded he looked down at his hand and saw blood.

“Father…”

Nyoko was at his side now, worry and horror painted on her face as she came to realize just how bad his illness was.

“You’re dying...aren’t you?”

“Yes...I knew the moment the coughing first started that this illness would kill me, though it has taken much longer to worsen than I thought it would and I did see a healer in secret, they only confirmed what I knew to be true. I stay in solitude so that you and your siblings would not see me waste away to this”  
  
Masa wiped his hand and mouth clean and pressed his forehead to hers.

“I won’t ask you to stay quiet, you may tell them if you wish...it won’t be much longer until I pass, by the end of the June I will be gone”

Nyoko was trying hard not to cry but this truth of his illness...it was a lot to take.  
  
“I will tell my brothers and sisters but no one else, I will have them gather here near the end of June because I don’t want you to pass on alone…”  
  
“That’s my girl”  
  
He gently laid a kiss on her head and wiped her tears away.  
  
“Go, I need to rest now”

Nyoko left and closed the door behind her a heavyweight fell on her shoulders but she had work to do now.  
  
Masa lay down and settled into the covers, he was weary and so sleep took him quickly; Dreams of happier days filled his sleep yet these illusions only made his heart ache more, how he longed to return to those days...to be at her side again...he had not felt anything since Kazuki had been taken from him.

As the weeks passed his illness grew worse to the point where he could barely speak and was bedridden he was so weakened but there was some comfort to be found in this...soon he wouldn’t suffer anymore.

Nyoko checked on him and did what she could to make things more comfortable for him and as she did so today Masa knew it was his last day of life.

“Nyoko…”

“Yes, father?”

“I will not live out this day…”

She had felt this was coming, all morning she knew something bad was going to happen

“I will gather everyone up…”

He grabbed her hand before she could get up.

“Bring my claws and armor…”

She nodded and kissed his forehead before leaving the room, she went to find her younger twin brothers, they were sparring, it was about the only thing that distracted them from the knowledge that their father was not long for this world. They stopped once they saw Nyoko, she came up to them and somehow managed to get the words out.

“Father doesn’t have a lot of time left...he won’t live past sunset”

Tatsuo and Raiden looked at each other, they had both had horrid feelings since they awoke that morning but had hoped it had no truth to it.

“We’ll get everyone together…”  
  
“No you two will get his armor and claws, I will gather everyone”

They didn’t argue and went their separate ways, Nyoko found her other siblings and told them to meet at their father's chambers, by the time everyone was together it was nearing mid sunset, Masas armor was put together on a stand at his head and three claws lay at his left and right, for the first time in nearly a year he felt at ease.

“To think an illness would take me once filled me with anger but now having seen you all grow and start families of your own it isn’t so bad”

His voice was hoarse and he strained to speak but he had to.  
  
“We didn’t think you would live long without mother, ‘He wouldn’t know what to do without me’ “  
  
Masa remembered her telling him once that he would be lost without her...damn woman was right.

  
  
“She was right, the blasted woman always was...though I never thought I would be this lost...after she passed I could not stand looking at my armor or my claws, I felt like I failed her…”

Raiden knew his father had blamed himself ever since Kazuki passed but neither he nor his siblings ever blamed him

“There wasn’t anything you could’ve done, she chose to use her long years to save others and lengthen their time on this earth if she hadn’t all but a few of us wouldn’t be here”

Masamune sighed expecting that sort of reply from his first born but they didn't know why he blamed himself so heavily.

“That is why I feel like I failed, the last time she used her healing magic it was on me when that bitch Himiko attacked Ohsu after I refused her advances, I would have died if she had not done it but it used the last of her extra time plus one year more…though I am happy she did as she gave me all of you, reminders of the good she left in this world...she was my moon but she left many stars behind for me and I have seen you all grow grey”

They all reminisced about Kazuki, it was the first time that they had done so since she had passed as it had been too painful but it was giving Masa some long-deserved comfort.  
  
“I am fortunate to have had you all as my own and I know Ohsu and Japan as a whole will be safe with your children protecting it”

He could feel it, his life was leaving him, his breath was raspy and short…

“Why did you want your armor and claws, old man?”

Raiden asked, though both he and Tatsuo suspected his reason.

“Because I have always known that when I pass, a party to end all parties will be waiting for me and before I can see your mother again I must win”  
  
So he had to face all his demons and defeat them in order to be with her, he was gearing up for the last fight.

  
  
“You better not lose old man or HE will come after you”

“Watch it boy, or I’ll haunt your ass…”  
  
He could barely see a thing now his sight was so dim

  
  
“No strength of will to fight for a year...but here I am...going to war one last time…”

As he closed his eye and darkness enveloped him he heard the voices of his children echo out across the void  
  
_“Go straight…”_

**Author's Note:**

> The ocs in this are all mine and this is my take on how he might be at the end of days, I took inspiration from details about his irl self, this was an idea I had a long while ago that was sitting in my google docs and I've posed it here as a start to collecting all my Basara stories in one place.
> 
> Apologies if this was formatted weirdly I'm new to this site and the text was copy/pasted.


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